Most of the movies made before sound hit the big screen will never be seen by our eyes. According to Martin Scoresese's Film Foundation, half of the films made pre-1950—and more than 90 percent of those made before 1929—are lost forever. And while not all of them are lost, you'll probably never see the films that remain, since they're rarely screened. Their posters remain as last relics of Hollywood's beginnings.

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Often, these glittering adverts are just as much art as the forgotten films themselves. These are some of our favorites:

Bungalow Boobs, 1924

Image credit: LAPL

Cabaret, 1927

Image credit: LAPL

Doctor X, 1932, is actually not lost. It was preserved in 1978 and done up in technicolor when a print was discovered in Jack Warner's personal collection.

Image credit: LAPL

1928's Red Hair is lost, save for a color sequence preserved at UCLA's Film and Television archive.

Most of the movies made before sound hit the big screen will never be seen by our eyes. According to Martin Scoresese's Film Foundation, half of the films made pre-1950—and more than 90 percent of those made before 1929—are lost forever. And while not all of them are lost, you'll probably never see the films that remain, since they're rarely screened. Their posters remain as last relics of Hollywood's beginnings.

Advertisement

Often, these glittering adverts are just as much art as the forgotten films themselves. These are some of our favorites:

Bungalow Boobs, 1924

Image credit: LAPL

Cabaret, 1927

Image credit: LAPL

Doctor X, 1932, is actually not lost. It was preserved in 1978 and done up in technicolor when a print was discovered in Jack Warner's personal collection.

Image credit: LAPL

1928's Red Hair is lost, save for a color sequence preserved at UCLA's Film and Television archive.